This month, Blood Bank of Delmarva held blood drives for the first time ever at Odessa High School and Torah Academy High School for Girls, and BBD also held a blood drive with Cab Calloway School of the Arts and The Charter School of Wilmington for the first time since 2019.
Odessa High School was founded by the Appoquinimink School District in 2020, and the Class of 2024 will be the first graduating class. Odessa High School class of 2024 member Elissa Kouemeni is one of the student leaders of the HOSA-Future Health Professionals who coordinated the OHS blood drive. Elissa was unable to donate blood during her first attempt in the summer of 2023, and when she attended the HOSA Annual International Leadership Conference in Texas the blood drive there was full – frustrating her again.
Undeterred, that inspired her to bring a blood drive to her school for her senior year. After gaining approval from her faculty advisor to host the first high school blood drive at Odessa, Elissa connected with Blood Bank of Delmarva Account Manager, Mary Moore, through the Appoquinimink/Middletown/Odessa Capstone group.
Odessa’s blood drive, hosted March 22 in Odessa, Delaware, yielded 45 units of lifesaving blood…including Elissa’s donation – finally!
HOSA leader Steve Jacob, another Odessa High senior, donated double reds for his first blood donation.
“We wanted to leave a mark so our underclassmen can take over. This is our chance to make an impact before we leave,” Steve said.
Meanwhile, Cab Calloway and The Charter School made some history of their own. For the first time since 2019, Blood Bank of Delmarva returned to Cab Calloway School of the Arts and The Charter School of Wilmington for a blood drive held March 13.
The draw was a success with an impressive 64 appointments and 44 units collected. Cab Calloway and Charter School share the Red Clay School District’s Wilmington High School campus.
The blood drive made Dean Anthony Bolden’s spring newsletter, The Calloway Dean’s Digest.
“We are grateful for all of the donors and support given to support the Delmarva Blood Drive,” Dean Bolden wrote. “Many staff, students and community members donated in support of this endeavor. We appreciate our friends at CSW for their support.”
Last but not least, BBD held a blood drive for the first time at Kosloff Torah Academy High School for Girls near Philadelphia , Pennsylvania on March 14. BBD hopes to be back.
Incidentally, this is also the first school year that BBD allows 16-year-olds to donate. Every bit helps as Blood Bank of Delmarva is currently experiencing a shortage in the O negative blood supply.
Anyone wishing to donate is urged to call 1-888-8-BLOOD-8 or visit DelmarvaBlood.org.
